SRINAGAR, India (AP) — An avalanche swept monday with an Indian army outpost on a Himalayan glacier in the disputed Kashmir region, killing four soldiers and two civilian gatekeepers, the army reported. The avalanche was unleashed at a height of more than 5,485 meters (17,995 feet) in the northern part of the Siachen Glacier. Rescuers pulled six soldiers and two gatekeepers out of the snow, Lt. Col. Abhinav Navneet reported.
The victims were taken by helicopter to a military hospital, where the four soldiers and two civilians were killed, Navneet said. The two surviving soldiers were cared for, he added. The group patrolled near the post when the area that was hit by the avalanche, Navneet added. The position was also affected, but there were no reports of injured people there. The glacier is at the northern tip of the divided region of Kashmir demanded by India and Pakistan in an area known as the world’s highest battlefield.
Both countries have had troops deployed there since 1984 at heights of up to 6,700 meters (21,982 feet).
Since then, there have been occasional lawsuits, but more soldiers have died from the inclement cold than from combat. In 2017, at least 20 Indian soldiers were killed in three avalanches. In 2012, an avalanche in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir killed 140 people, including 129 Pakistani soldiers.
